REVIEW: THE SILENT PATIENT • ALEX MICHAELIDES

Thursday 7th Feb marks the publication of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and I couldn’t be more excited to bring you my review. I received an ARC copy from the lovely Poppy at Orion Book’s (thanks again Poppy) back in August in exchange for an honest review, and had to jump straight in and was far from disappointed.

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him….

The Sunday Feeling’s Review

If you have read the synopsis I will be surprised if you’re not already dying to get your hands on a copy. Even thought famous painter Alicia Berenson appears to have the perfect life with her loving husband, things are certainly not what they seem. When her husband returns home late from work one evening and Alicia shoots him in the face five times, then never speaks again, Alicia’s life changes forever.

The book is set over the duration of 6 years whist Alicia is living in a mental care facility called The Grove. During which time criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber transfers over to The Grove after becoming obsessed with Alicia’s case and the idea of solving the mystery. During the book we get snippets from Alicia’s diary, and even though Alicia is now pretty much mute, using these extracts and the POV of Theo, we slowly begin to piece together what really happened that awful night.

The final diary entry is discovered towards the end of the book which is what finally slots the last piece of the puzzle into place. The pace of the book changes at this point and things (as well as my pulse) begin to speed up rapidly.

I loved digging deep into each and every character including Alicia herself (for someone that is silent she had an incredible amount to say), as well as getting to know Theo’s background. I was surprised to find I didn’t get bored like I sometimes do when character development is overdone a little too much in books.

Unwrapping each layer of the story bit by bit proved to uncover more significant detail which lead to more twists and an explosive ending. I didn’t see the twist coming, and I couldn’t have guessed how the book was going to end which overall meant my experience of reading The Silent Patient was fantastic.

The Silent Patient hit record number of deals months before it was even released and in November Brad Pitt’s film company Plan B had already snapped up the film rights. That’s right, a whole 3 months before publication!

Thanks again to the publisher Orion Book’s for sending me a copy of the book
in exchange for an honest review.